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November 30, 2007
Opponents slam plan to build Atlantic Yards arena near busy intersection
New York Daily News
by Jotham Sederstrom
Coverage of yesterday's press conference on City Hall steps called by the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods.
Critics of the Atlantic Yards project renewed their call Thursday for an independent security review in light of news that a portion of a planned basketball arena would be built just 20 feet from Brooklyn's busiest intersection.
The potential security risk at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Aves. is within reach of terrorists hellbent on crashing into the glass-walled arena, opponents charged.
"The [Empire State Development Corp.] and Forest City Ratner are asking us to trust that they have shared a security plan with the NYPD, and that the NYPD is fine with it," said Eric McClure, member of the Council of Brooklyn Neighborhoods, an Atlantic Yards watchdog group.
Security has always been an issue for Yards critics, but it was only recently that a spokesman for Forest City Ratner revealed just how close arena walls would be to the street.
No Land Grab: This article does a good job of summarizing security concerns for the proposed Nets arena. It is inaccurate, though, to characterize the participants of the press conference as "opponents". Attendees included David Yassky and Bill de Blasio who are frequent critics, but not necessarily opponents of the project.
Posted by steve at November 30, 2007 6:43 AM